Apologies for Going Quiet in May...and Antisemitic Harassment Sucks
Struggling with creative focus amid rising antisemitism and chaos, I reflect on my experiences and thoughts.
Hi all, apologies for going quiet in May. I got hit with viral infection after Derby Day and then it’s been non-stop with Emmy Phase 1 and now combine that with the Tribeca Festival. It’s been so much that Dugout Dirt is taking something of a beating, too. Not to mention my own reading pile.
What happened in DC and later Boulder did a number on my headspace and focus. I’ve spent plenty of nights staying up until 2-3 AM getting lost in creative writing. The other day, I had a nightmare that I was a victim of an antisemitic assault and this was during my afternoon nap. As you can imagine, the past week has not been any better—not one when has so many family and friends living in Israel. It’s very much a struggle to watch movies, let alone write about them. Documentaries are somewhat easier, but narrative films are a real struggle right now.
Left-wing LGBTQ spaces are not friendly to LGBTQ these days. It’s so much that we have to create our own spaces. What does it say when I—an Orthodox transgender Jew—feel far safer in a Jewish environment than an LGBTQ one?
I hit a nerve with this post: Antisemitism seems to be the only thing where if somebody gets called out for such acts of hate, rather than think to themselves what they can do to improve their behavior, they just double down on being hateful. Maybe stop and listen for once. DO BETTER. I'm talking to those on the left.
Being on the receiving end of so much antisemitic harassment online—from leftists, no less—hasn’t been fun. I decided to treat myself to a nice charburger at Milt’s only to be met by even more antisemitic harassment after I posted the photo of my dinner. Who knew how triggered antisemites were by images of kosher food?
What happened at a Run for Their Lives walk/rally in Boulder is that an Egyptian man—living in America—had been planning the attack for a year and wanting to kill all Zionists. In short, he wanted to genocide Jews.
Between those two attacks and everything else, the intifada has been globalized and arrived in America.
It’s not easy being Jewish and LGBTQ at the moment. See what happened in Brooklyn at a Conservative shul.
I’d like to know what Steve Witkoff is drinking so that I don’t touch whatever the fork it is. The man—being honored by a Jewish organization—had the nerve to say that the convicted felon could serve as both the U.S. president and Israeli prime minister. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.
When I started drafting this, it was June 12th and things were getting very chaotic in California. The felon has essentially declared martial law or something. Hell, he’s even threatening to arrest Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Yes, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt went there in his comparison.
In mid-May—because yes, that’s how long I’ve had tabs open for links that I planned to write about—Chief Justice John Roberts said that the rule of law was “endangered.” I can see why he would say that with the current admin defying so many court orders. But at the same time, the current Court just ruled in favor of transphobes, believing that politicians are better at making decisions than doctors.
Also in mid-May, Sen. Chuck Schumer announced he would place holds on all the Justice Department nominees in response to the felon accepting a $400 million plane from Qatar to serve as Air Force One.
The Pentagon announced they were halting gender-affirming care for transgender troops. It’s bullshit. In what universe is it right that trans Israelis can serve in the IDF, but trans Americans are told they’re mentally ill?!? Because that’s where we forking are right now.
One judge has ruled that the admin can’t limit gender markers on passports. We’ll see what happens when this reaches the Supreme Court.
In May, Yeshiva University rescinded its earlier approval of an LGBTQ club on campus.
Nobody asked me for my opinion but a recent poll found that over half of Jewish Americans believe the convicted felon to be an antisemite.
In what comes as absolutely zero surprise, Hamas wanted to torpedo the Israeli-Saudi normalization deal.
The stupid funding cuts—because we can’t have nice things in the felon’s America—are going to lead to libraries cutting services.
Seventy-percent of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division have left the Justice Department. If you’re wondering, we’re talking about 250 attorneys.
It marks a dramatic turn for the storied division, which was created during the civil rights movement and the push to end racial segregation. For almost 70 years, it has sought to combat discrimination and to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans in everything from voting and housing to employment, education and policing.
The Pentagon promoted antisemite Kingsley Wilson to press secretary in May. Despite her known antisemitic comments, Defense Secretary and Signal leaker Pete Hegseth defended her in recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Your lack of an answer confirms what we’ve known all along: The Trump administration is not serious. You are not a serious person, you are not serious about rooting out and fighting antisemitism within the ranks of our DoD,” Rosen responded, as she and Hegseth attempted to shout over each other. “It’s despicable. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly wrote that you cannot separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism. He’s not wrong.
There is no such thing as anti-Zionism without antisemitism. In the real world — not in theory, but in practice — the two are indistinguishable. When anti-Zionism licenses dehumanization, mob intimidation, firebombings and terror, then it is not opposition to a government. It is a campaign of hate against a people.
I’ve had the honor of meeting Van Jones twice during the DNC. He’s been a very vocal ally to the Jewish community, more so than the people I thought were friends and allies. He recently called for a renewed Black-Jewish Alliance.
Even though The New York Times have been guilty of inciting it, their editorial board has realized antisemitism is an urgent problem. Rather than excerpt a piece of the op-ed, I recommend reading in full.
Get to know this phrase: Traumatic Invalidation. It’s very real.